You're Just Like Home
by voidxgear
Summary: Aomine gets recruited to the NBA and becomes a player for the New York Knicks, but he's all alone in a big, foreign city. It turns out that he's not as alone as he thought he was when his path unexpectedly crosses with Kise's again. Kise is a little piece of home that Aomine has convinced himself he doesn't need, but maybe he's wrong. [Pairing: Aokise]
1. I'd Like That

"Dai-chaaaan!," Satsuki greeted, sending Aomine a bright smile when he accepted the Skype call. "You picked up!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said lazily. "This time zone shit kills me, it's way too early."

"Isn't it 10AM for you?"

"Yeah, what's your point? Who wakes up before noon?"

Aomine had been in New York for a month now. Long enough to get over the jet lag, but he still slept in way too late or, if he couldn't do that, took frequent naps during the day when he wasn't busy. So…not too far from normal. However, this combined with his schedule meant that it was next to impossible to talk to Satsuki, who was still all the way on the other side of the globe in Tokyo.

They both had schedules to follow, but his was a little different. She was in college in Tokyo.

He had been drafted to the NBA's own New York Knicks late into his first year of college, shortly after his 19th birthday.

"Silly Dai-chan. How's the apartment? Are you cleaning it? Let me see it. It better not be messy!"

"Sheesh, you're so loud." He leaned to the side in his chair, letting his camera capture the view behind him for her to see. Behind him was a small red sofa, clean and empty. Hanging above the sofa was a poster of his very beloved Mai-chan on a beach, with some smaller shots of some of her other shoots hanging nearby.

Out of the camera's view were stacks of boxes he had yet to touch. He'd….get to those eventually, probably. Maybe. The clothes he needed were in the closet, he had the bare minimum cooking and eating utensils placed carelessly in cupboards in the kitchen, and even though his bed was comfortable, it was messy as well.

But those were things that Satsuki couldn't see nor would he show her.

She shook her head when she saw the Mai-chan poster. "Oh, Dai-chan. You haven't changed. I bet the rest of your place is messy, isn't it?"

"It is not!," he claimed, looking off to the side at some opened up box he'd been meaning to go through that contained his old Touou merchandise.

"You're a bad liar, Dai-chan."

He frowned, looking back at his computer again. "Well, I'm busy."

She just laughed. "So tell me about the NBA! Is it exciting? Are you ready for the season to start? How are your teammates? Tell me everything!"

That was a lot of questions. In a way though, he didn't mind. This was the first time in weeks that he'd been able to speak Japanese freely to someone that wasn't a translator. The translator he usually worked with was all right enough he supposed. She was Japanese as well and worked closely with the team, but their relationship was purely professional. His grasp on English had improved a bit over the past couple of years, but when it came to communicating with his coaches and teammates, it got tricky.

Being able to talk to Satsuki normally was…nice.

"It's different. We've only been playing practice matches, but they're good."

"You're keeping up, aren't you?," she teased with a sly grin.

"Oi! Of course I'm keeping up! Just because I'm the youngest on the team and I'm an international doesn't mean I can't keep up. Sheesh, don't be ridiculous."

"You better practice hard! You're going to every practice, right?"

He had to chuckle a little. It was easy to recall a time when practice felt like a drag, even when he'd started going again. But now…it was different. Sure, not everyone on his team had the most impressive talent, but most everyone was skilled enough to keep his attention. It wasn't like his college team back in Tokyo, and it wasn't like high school either. It was different now, and in the best possible way.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm practicing," he said with a faint grin.

"Good. You're practicing your English too, right?"

His face fell a little. "Uh….."

She pouted, her face a little stern. "Daiii-chaaaan."

"I'm working on it, okay?"

He almost didn't want to bother. His teammates seemed to have enough respect for him as far his basketball skills, but he could hear their whispers about him when they didn't know he was listening, or even could. Sometimes the things he heard struck a nerve.

 _"Is he really Japanese? He doesn't look very Japanese…"_

 _"Did he really just say that? Does he know how stupid he sounds? I don't think he's even studying English."_

 _"He's just embarrassing himself. Where is his translator?"_

When it came to his English, he could understand it better than he could speak it, and he sure understood it well enough to know when they were talking about him. Even though there were other internationals across the NBA, he was the only one of Asian descent on the Knicks. While that in itself wasn't a problem, his lack of fluency in English led to judgments and, ultimately, alienation.

But if you asked him? Well, he wasn't here to make friends. He was here to play basketball, and when he was playing it was a lot of fun. So he didn't need anything else. Soon he would be playing actual games when the preseason started in a couple of weeks, the main season a few weeks after that, and that's what he was really excited for.

Playing some really good basketball was all he needed. It excited him, invigorated him like nothing else ever could. What more could he need?

Satsuki frowned. "Tetsu-kun's English has gotten pretty good. I'll ask him if he has any books! I'm sure he can help you."

Aomine couldn't help but snort a little. "I don't think he's learning English from textbooks."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Nothing, nevermind."

He held back a small sigh. He hadn't thought about it much since he got here, mostly because he tried not to, but every single person he knew was clear on the other side of the world. Every last one. The strangest part of it was being this far from Satsuki. They used to see each other almost daily, even when they entered college. Sure, a lot of it was her pushing him to study and making sure he still attended practice but….she couldn't do that anymore. She had to stay in Tokyo and think about her own future.

Aomine had no doubt in his mind that she would still find ways to nag him, though. She was already starting, wasn't she? It was just…different when it was over Skype instead of right next to his ear when he was passed out taking a nap wherever.

How often would he hear from anyone else? Probably not often, he imagined. Before he left, Tetsu said they should keep in touch, and he was sure that they would to a point, but he didn't expect them to talk frequently. Then there was Kise, who he had hung out with on a semi-regular basis when he was still back home, usually to play one-on-one but sometimes they just had burgers together and talked. Couldn't do that anymore, either. Kise said they would still talk all the time, but he was getting high profile modeling jobs in Japan now, even bigger than his previous jobs. Aomine wasn't expecting to hear much from him.

So, he was alone.

But, you know, whatever. He was here to play basketball. All he needed.

He let Satsuki continue talking for awhile, filling him in on her college and life adventures. She had taken an interest in sports medicine and was enjoying it. She made sure to tell him that it wasn't the same without him there, but she was still happy nonetheless. There were also some friends she was making in college, but she still kept in touch with everyone from their past and considered them her closest friends.

After about an hour of her rambling and Aomine leaning his chin on his fist out of grogginess because, yes, 10AM was in fact too early, she said something that caught him off guard.

"I'm proud of you, Dai-chan."

He blinked at his screen, and it was hard to tell with the video quality, but her eyes looked moist. "Huh? Don't tell me you're crying."

She quickly rubbed her eyes, composing herself. "It's late here, I have to be up early. We'll talk soon, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course," he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Goodnight, Dai-chan."

"'Night, Satsuki."

She disconnected the call and he sighed, closing his laptop before trudging out of the chair. Might as well get his day started.

* * *

After a long shower and realizing his fridge was embarrassingly empty, he decided he'd go to the store for at least some kind of sustenance, even if it would probably end up consisting of energy drinks and TV dinners (much to Satsuki's chagrin if she were here, but she wasn't).

Not having eaten anything yet so far in the day, when he arrived at the grocery store down the street from his apartment complex, he was still in a bit of a groggy daze. The first thing he went for in the store was a 10 pack of Monster energy drinks, setting it into his cart when suddenly a voice was screeching loudly behind him.

"Aominecchi!"

"Eh?"

He barely turned around before a slender body slammed into him, arms wrapping around him in a big, tight hug. For a moment, he couldn't move. It didn't feel real. Wasn't he supposed to be in Japan?

"Kise?"

Kise let him go, giving him a smile that could probably power all of New York City. "I can't believe I found you already!"

"What the hell are you doing in New York?," Aomine asked, noting the people around them looking on. He wasn't sure if they were staring because of Kise's shameless enthusiasm or because they were speaking Japanese, or both.

"I got a job with a modeling company here in Manhattan! I just moved here last week. Can you believe it? What are the odds!"

Aomine's eyes widened a bit and, for whatever reason, he couldn't form words. It was probably because he was still tired. That made sense.

Kise giggled and tugged on his sleeve. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Hey, you wanna have lunch? My treat. I wanna hear all about your adventures with the NBA so far! You must be so excited. What do you say?"

Back in Tokyo, even though they hung out pretty often as time went on, it usually consisted of Kise inviting him and Aomine lazily accepting his invitations. So, he was puzzled when he heard himself responding in a slightly different way this time around.

"Yeah….yeah, I'd like that."


	2. As Time Passes

It was strange to be with Kise in a very public place without worrying about his fangirls trying to chase him down. After all, they were in the middle of Manhattan. It wasn't exactly a secluded place anywhere you turned, even if it was some fancy burger place that the blond had dragged him too. Guess Kise didn't have as many fans here yet but since it was Kise, Aomine had no doubt it would happen eventually.

Aomine would have been perfectly fine with McDonald's but no, Kise had insisted instead on sitting in a booth, a dimly lit lamp hanging above their table, carpet underneath their feet because if Aomine was in New York he should enjoy all it had to offer him.

The blond glanced out the window, a wide smile on his face even though the view outside was just the typical New York busy street, people hurrying to get around on foot, in cars, and in taxis. Nothing special about it, but he looked so happy to be here.

"Isn't it great, Aominecchi?"

"What, New York? It's okay I guess," he said with a small shrug, biting into his very hefty burger that was probably more veggie than actual burger. But a burger was still a burger.

Kise laughed lightly, picking up his own burger, a smaller version of the one Aomine was eating. "No, idiot. Us! Finding each other! When I got the offer I was so excited because you had come here too! Isn't that crazy? I could have gotten offers from anywhere in the world."

"Uh-huh," Aomine said to his burger. Actually, this thing wasn't bad. What did they put in that sauce and where could he get more of it?

"I had to pack my stuff and leave quickly. I didn't have time to say goodbye to everyone. I didn't even get to see Kurokocchi before I left!," the blond whined.

"Not like you can't see him again when you go back," he said dismissively.

"What? What do you mean 'when I go back'?"

Aomine, his face half hidden behind the burger he was holding to his lips, made a face. "What do you think I mean? When your job is done and you go back home."

Kise just smiled. Aomine couldn't be sure but he almost thought he saw a hint of sadness in his eyes. He didn't know what it meant or if he had even imagined it, but he damn sure wasn't about to ask. "Aominecchi, I think you misunderstood me...I'm not going back. I'm working for a modeling agency here now. Sometimes I'll have to travel for photoshoots, but I live here now...just like you do."

Aomine blinked, putting down his burger. "Wait, you're here permanently?"

"Mmhm. Isn't it great? Since we're both living in Manhattan we can see each other all we want!" Beaming as ever, he bit into his burger.

"Great. You can annoy me just like you did back home."

After swallowing, Kise gave him a grin. "I bought season tickets for the Knicks already. I can't promise to make all of your games, especially when I have to travel, but I'm going to make as many as I can. I can't believe you're really in the NBA already! But I guess no one should be surprised, after all it's you, right Aominecchi?"

"Idiot, why would you buy season tickets if you don't know how many games you can attend?"

"Those tickets are going to start selling out when people see how you play! Made any press appearances yet? I haven't had time to check myself, sorry about that!"

"A few."

"Aren't you excited? They recruited you so young! Don't they normally wait until players are a few years older? They must have seen how amazing you were, but who hasn't, right?"

He was excited...for the games. Even the preseason games may still hold some challenge and interest for him. Of course, that was yet to be seen, but at the moment he was holding out some hope for it. After all, this was the NBA. The cream of the crop, best of the best. If he was looking to be consistently challenged, this was the place to be.

"Huh? Excited? Yeah, sure," he answered lazily, concentrating on his meal.

It was true that he was recruited very young, being just nineteen years old. The NBA recruiters had their eyes on him from the moment he entered college. Probably before that, actually, but it wasn't until midway in his first year of college that they started to make themselves known to him.

They came to him when he had no direction. What did he want to major in? What did he want to do after college? Fuck if he knew, because the only thing he'd ever known was basketball. He'd figure out the rest later, wouldn't he?

Now, he had direction. Professional sports were considered to be a questionable career by some, but Aomine had no doubts about his skills whatsoever. So long as he had basketball, he was content, and he didn't need anything else.

So ignoring the fact that New York itself didn't appeal to him that much, that he was still struggling with the language, that nothing else grabbed his attention here outside of basketball and actually kind of bored him, and that he didn't know anyone here…he was doing just fine.

…Well, didn't know anyone other than Kise, that is. However, it sounded like Kise was going to be pretty busy, and he would be too, so Kise moving here wouldn't actually change very much.

He was just here for the basketball.

Kise just smiled at him a little before he suddenly perked up, digging into his bag. "Hey! Wanna see my latest photo book? I shot it back home a couple of months ago. I don't know when I'll be shooting in Japan again so it's pretty special!"

He placed the magazine on the table, sliding it over next to Aomine's plate. On the cover was a picture of Kise wearing a white sweater, decorated with a gray scarf that was loosely draped over his neck. His hair stuck out from under the fashionable gray beanie that sat lopsided on his head. On his face he wore his classic model smile, big and bright as ever as he winked into the camera.

Aomine flipped the cover open, peeking through a couple of pages that focused on various fashions Kise wore, dressed for autumn. Not any different from his other photo books, really.

"They actually gave you some outfits that don't suck this time," he mused. When he looked up at Kise again, the blond was blinking at him, looking surprised.

"What?!" Aomine demanded.

Kise smiled shyly, scratching the back of his head. "It's nothing….it's just that you never look at my photo books. You usually ignore them."

Aomine closed the magazine and ate the last few bites of his burger, speaking with his mouth full. "What? Is this a crime?"

"Are you kidding me?" There was a very noticeable spark in the blond's eyes as he took the photo book back, opening it to a page near the end where he wore a black button-up coat with slender black pants and boots. "This was one of my favorites! It shows my features very well, don't you think? Hey, maybe I can wear it to your first game! Someone in the press might spot me so I gotta look my best, you know."

Aomine looked down at the picture, then back up at him. "You don't even know if you can make my first game. Besides, first game is just preseason."

"Aw, don't be like that! Preseason or not it's very important. Someone's gotta cheer you on. Is Momoicchi coming to see you?"

"She's gonna try, but she's busy with school."

"Aw, that's a shame. I bet she's still keeping up with you though, huh?"

"Nagged me on Skype just this morning."

Kise giggled before taking a sip of water. "Sounds about right. Lecturing you to go to practice just like old times?"

Aomine's expression, which had previously been one of boredom, shifted slightly as he looked a little amused. "Of course."

"I bet she's also lecturing you about keeping your place clean and studying English."

Aomine couldn't help but chuckle a little. It should probably come as no surprise, after all they'd all been friends for so many years. A lot had changed in their lives, but the way he and Satsuki communicated had never really changed at all. It was just over Skype now.

"It's almost like you were listening in."

"What if I was, hmm?"

That earned Kise an unamused stare from Aomine, which made him start laughing. "It was a joke, silly! You've been alone for too long, Aominecchi, you need to relax."

Aomine pouted a little, finishing off his drink. "I'm perfectly relaxed."

Kise simply giggled a bit.

* * *

Tick, tock, tick, tock. What time was it anyway? Aomine rolled over in bed, catching a glance at the clock on the wall, which he could see with the help of streetlights peeking in between the blinds in the window on the opposing wall.

2:07AM.

The clock's ticking was damn near driving him mad. With a groan, he rolled out of bed, walking over to the clock. His strong, large hands could have smashed the clock against the wall and he almost wanted to, but instead he removed the batteries from the back of it, then set the them on the nightstand.

The ticking was gone and the silence was welcomed.

Sighing, he climbed back into bed, but he almost didn't see the point. He'd been laying awake since he first turned in a few hours ago, tossing and turning in hopes to get comfortable enough to sleep but it just wasn't happening.

Since he'd come here, he had trouble falling asleep sometimes, but this was exceptional.

He couldn't stop thinking about Kise and he didn't know why. It just seemed so bizarre that of all places in the world to be, they both ended up in New York Fucking City. Kise had apparently been here for a solid week, right under his nose, and he had no idea.

Why didn't he know? More importantly, why did it bother him that he didn't know?

Talking with Kise had felt…a little easier than it used to. Even though Kise had done most of the talking just because, well, that was Kise, it was still easier and, dare he even think it, more comfortable than he remembered it being.

 _"You've been alone too long, Aominecchi…"_ Yeah, maybe he had. Nothing to do but get used to it. No big deal.

It seemed strange to him just how comfortable Kise seemed to be here. Kise's English was better than his own, but last he remembered it wasn't that good. And sure, Kise was used to doing different modeling jobs overseas, but now he was living permanently clear on the other side of the world. Being the clingy, annoying little idiot that he could be, didn't that bother him at all?

Maybe not. Maybe he was perfectly content being away from everyone, living life in a big city. Sure, he was happy to see Aomine, but maybe he was just being friendly.

Arg, who the hell cared? Thinking about it made his head hurt. But until he would get to sleep, his mind would keep going over the same details over and over.

Unfortunately, he doubted he'd be sleeping anytime soon.

A faint glow washed over the ceiling as he heard the familiar vibration of his phone. At this hour? What the hell? Scowling, he reached over to the nightstand for his phone to see a text message from Kise. They had exchanged their American phone numbers after having lunch together earlier.

 _"Aominecchi, I can't make your first game. I'm really sorry! Play hard, okay?"_ Of course, the text was complete with three crying emojis.

He frowned at his phone. Not that he'd ever tell Kise, or anyone else for that matter, but he couldn't help but first feel...he wasn't sure what it was. Disappointment? Maybe. What difference did it make? It wasn't like he'd never played a game Kise didn't watch before. It was just fucking Kise. He was in New York to play basketball with the NBA, and Kise was here to model.

What fucking difference did it make?

He texted him back. _"What do you think you're doing texting me at 2:30 in the morning? Don't make such a fuss out of it. It's just one preseason game."_

Unsurprisingly, Kise's response came about as quick as he could blink. _"I'm sorry! I didn't think you'd see it until morning, don't be mad. I can't sleep…."_

"Tch," Aomine muttered, setting the phone down again before rolling over. Screw this, just let him get some sleep. He had a practice game tomorrow, for crying out loud.

He closed his eyes and sure enough, after a couple of minutes, heard his phone vibrating again. He wanted to ignore it but….

Rolling back over again, he grabbed the phone.

 _"I didn't wake you up, did I?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Oh. Everything okay?"_

 _"Too many streetlights outside."_ This was ridiculous, he didn't even like texting. He hated it. But at least in text messages it was easy to give a bullshit excuse.

 _"You should get some blackout curtains. That will help block them out at least a little!"_

 _"Yeah, maybe. What about you?"_

 _"Huh? It's nothing, just one of those nights. You know?"_

 _"Yeah. Count some sheep or something."_

 _"I wish it was that easy. Hey, we should meet up again soon. Are you free on Friday? I know a court where we can play some one-on-one. Like old times."_

 _"Sure. Friday's fine."_

 _"Great! I'll text you the location and time later. Try to get some sleep, okay? Goodnight, Aominecchi."_

 _"Yeah, you too. 'Night."_

For several minutes, all he could do was stare at the messages they'd just sent. Seemed weird that neither of them could sleep tonight, but…

It was probably best not to think about it too much.

He set his phone aside for the final time that night and rolled over on his stomach, placing his pillow over his head as though it would block out all the thoughts about Kise trying to race through his mind.

It didn't work.


	3. The Rising Tide

As the weeks passed, Aomine was living life just how he liked it: with a lot of basketball. This entailed lots of practices during the week and, when the preseason started, games through the week as well. Not only that, but he was meeting Kise for one-on-one once a week as well, sometimes twice.

Since he was regularly playing basketball now and Kise wasn't, the gap between them was widening again. However, it didn't stop Kise from giving their little matches his all. Aomine was glad for this and it was one of the reasons he kept meeting him for one-on-one at all.

But that wasn't the only reason.

The court they had been meeting up at for about a month now was in a fairly worn-down part of town, with Kise claiming they'd be less likely to get a lot of public attention this way. It seemed to be working, but Aomine had his suspicions on how long that would last as their respective works gained a wider audience.

It also dawned on him that they couldn't continue doing this weekly. The regular NBA season was starting in less than a week, which would fill his schedule almost entirely. He'd already traveled a bit for the preseason games. Miami, Cleveland, Chicago….

But the real fun was about to start. It's what he'd been waiting for. Consequently, it meant that he'd soon start seeing a lot less of Kise. But given his current confusing feelings and thoughts….

It was for the best.

Kise had the ball, but Aomine's eyes were sharp as usual. There's no way Kise could have been sure that trying to fool Aomine into thinking he was going to move one way when he was instead going the other would actually work, but he was trying it anyway. Aomine had already racked up some points, so maybe he was desperate. The moment that Kise moved, Aomine moved and knocked the ball right out of his hands.

Aomine frowned as he retrieved the ball, giving Kise a somewhat disappointed look. "You know better than that."

Kise pouted, looking away shamefully. "Don't be so mean."

Aomine looked him straight in the eyes, dribbling the ball lazily. This only made Kise pout even more, but he got into a defensive stance anyway.

"This will be our last match for awhile, Kise. Better make it a good one." The former Touou ace moved fast towards the basket with the intention to dunk, but before he even got close enough to jump, the ball vanished from his hands. Startled, he blinked to realize that Kise had stolen the ball from him and was jumping up to the basket. He jumped to block it, but was just a fraction of a second too late, and the ball was in.

He landed back on his feet again to see Kise giving him a wide grin.

"You mean like that?" the blond asked.

Aomine pouted a little this time, moving to retrieve the ball again. His opponent was coming at him quickly but without any hesitation, he shot the ball. Swish.

"That's six points. I win."

Kise whined loudly, grabbing the ball. "You shot that last one too quickly!"

Aomine laughed, throwing a towel over his shoulders and wiping the sweat off his forehead. "That's the game, idiot. You're just whining because you weren't fast enough."

"How about another round? Twelve points instead of six? Six is pretty low…"

"You said you had to go to bed early tonight."

"I know, but…"

Aomine took a large sip from his water bottle, glancing at Kise, who stood there holding the ball while giving him those puppy dog eyes he was famous for. Sometimes Kise got pouty when they were done playing for the day, but he was looking even more pouty than normal.

"Are we gonna see each other again soon?" the blond asked, idly turning the ball in his hands in a fidgety gesture.

Oh, no. He couldn't do this. Goddammit why did he have to give him that look with that whiny voice. He looked like a kid who's candy had been taken from him. Fuck. Stop it.

Aomine looked away, setting his water bottle back down on the bench again. "Depends on your definition of 'soon'. I leave for Orlando in four days. Then to Chicago, then B—"

"Boston," Kise said, his voice defeated. "I know. Then after Boston, you're home for two games."

"So you did look at the schedule."

"I'll be in New York during those two home games. Can we see each other then?"

Aomine crossed his arms. "What's with the lost puppy stuff? This is weird, even for you."

He was expecting some kind of whiny verbal response, but instead Kise threw the ball straight towards his face in a fit of anger. Aomine reacted quickly, catching the ball with both hands, looking back at Kise, who was glaring at him, holding back tears.

"If that's how you wanna be, fine! Call me up again when you can fit me in your schedule," the blond hissed.

"What the hell?!" Why was Kise acting so ridiculous? They were both aware they had a lot of work coming up, so why was he acting like he should take priority over everything else?

Kise grabbed his bag, angrily throwing it over his shoulder and turning his back to Aomine to walk off. The shorts the blond was wearing were just normal basketball shorts, but for some reason they seemed to…really accentuate his ass….

Goddammit, Daiki. Goddammit.

"W-will you just hold on a second? Sheesh, you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?"

Kise stopped, looking back over his shoulder. "What do you wanna say, Aominecchi?"

Aomine tossed him the ball. As expected, Kise turned and caught it in time.

"Six more points."

Kise seemed to hesitate, but only for a beat before putting his bag on the bench again, dribbling the ball into the court. Grinning, Aomine set his towel back down and followed him over.

He couldn't be sure why, but Kise seemed to play even harder in the second round then he did in the first. Aomine could still keep up with little issue, but he had to work harder. Where was this fire coming from?

In addition to noticing Kise playing even harder and moving even faster, Aomine found himself noticing other things about Kise that he normally dismissed. Unimportant things like the way his hair flowed in the breeze when he sped along the court, the spark in his eyes when he caught Aomine off guard, the movement of his legs as he managed to dunk one of his shots, as though he were being carried by wings rather than the force of his jump. And the little noise he made when he landed on both feet, ready to challenge whatever Aomine was going to throw at him.

And…that ass. Again. Kise may not have had boobs, but he sure as hell did have an ass.

No. No, no. Fuck. Fuck.

Aomine won, and while Kise didn't look too surprised by this fact, the pro basketball player was internally kicking himself because his distractions could have cost him his victory…among other things.

"You would be the type of person to apologize with basketball," Kise said with a small grin while panting, toweling his face.

"Yeah, whatever," Aomine said dismissively, chugging more water. Too often, he couldn't decide if he liked it or not that Kise could read him well sometimes. At the moment, he didn't care to argue it. Not when he had this much going on inside his head. "I probably should get home."

Kise frowned and looked away. It actually looked as though he were trying not to frown, which was weird for a guy who pretty much wore his heart on his sleeve. For some reason that bothered him. Why did Kise feel like he had to hide anything he felt around him? He didn't need to do that…not ever….

"Yeah, I guess you do," Kise said quietly, looking up to the sky, which was slowly fading from dusk to nightfall. "Hey, Aominecchi?"

"Eh?"

"Call me when you're back in New York?"

He hesitated. "…Yeah."

Kise, despite having sounded somewhat sad just a moment ago, gave Aomine a big bright smile and waved as he said goodbye. The trouble with Kise was that sometimes even his brightest smiles were forced and it wasn't always easy to tell the difference. However, Aomine considered himself close enough with Kise and he was damn sure he knew the difference between his fake smiles and his real ones, and that one looked like one of his fake ones. Like the ones he wore when posing for his photoshoots, not the smiles he wore when he got to hang out with his Aominecchi.

He just couldn't understand why Kise was acting so strange.

After Kise left, Aomine gathered his things together and left in the opposite direction to head back to his apartment. If his guesses were right, it would be about three weeks before he'd see Kise again, the longest they'd gone without seeing each other since they met up again here in New York. And this was if he could even fit Kise between practices and games in the meantime. But...he could do that, right? Sure, the NBA schedules were jam packed but…

He really did want to see Kise, didn't he? Like…more than ever.

He didn't always tell Kise (pretty much never, actually), but he'd always liked their little hangouts, even if it wasn't always to play one-on-one. Kise could be a pain in his ass sometimes, but really, his company was enjoyable somehow. He wouldn't have hung out with him so much if it wasn't.

But now it was different. Since he'd first saw him again in New York, he was enjoying his company even more. He'd been going through the days wondering when he and Kise could play together again, and then looking forward to it when they made plans.

On top of that, there was the way he'd been looking at Kise lately. For fuck's sake why did he keep looking at his ass? He wasn't even the ass type! He was a boob man!

Wasn't he? Wasn't it that simple?

Whatever.

There just wasn't a way he was….was he? It just didn't make any sense. Never in his life had he looked at a guy twice. Not once. But for some reason, Kise had taken his perceptions and shook them up with that little spark in his eyes, the way he moved across the court, and his…shape….

Goddammit.

The fact that Kise was a guy wasn't a problem. It was just…weird. He wasn't used to it. All his life he'd been staring at girls with big boobs and suddenly the person he wants to spend more time with and see wearing a genuine smile was a guy. It shook his perception of himself, made him wonder how much he actually knew himself, if at all.

Which was pretty frightening if he was honest about it.

About a block before his apartment was a newsstand that he normally didn't even notice, but a certain set of golden locks on the cover of one of the magazines grabbed his attention instantly. Aomine stopped in his tracks, picking up the magazine to check it out. It was some American teen magazine, and while Kise's face was only on a small bottom corner, he was still on it. Already. Wow.

He flipped it open, finding an article about him towards the back, which contained a few nice photos of him looking enthusiastic as usual, holding a globe in his hands. Aomine couldn't read a lot of what the article said, but it was something along the lines of Kise Ryouta getting ready to take over the world.

Hm.

He turned to the clerk, handing him the magazine, hoping he wouldn't fumble up in his English when he addressed him. "[I wanna buy this.]"

Judging from the neutral expression from the clerk as he rang him up, he'd phrased it correctly. Good.

"[You got a little sister or something?]"

Aomine just made a face, handing him a ten dollar bill. The clerk gave him a sly smile as he gave him his change.

"[Have a nice day]," he said, giving Aomine a wink.

Asshole. Aomine aggressively took his magazine back, not even bothering to ask for a bag and started back home.

He flipped through it a little more as he walked, trying to make sense of the English in the article, but he could only make out a few bits here and there. Frustrating. Didn't matter, he supposed. The point was that Kise had just gotten to America and he was already in an American teen magazine. The agency that Kise had started working for must have been damn good if he was getting this kind of exposure already. Then again, this was Kise, so he wasn't too surprised.

It also meant that it wouldn't be long before fangirls started following him everywhere here, just like back home.

The thought made him pout a little. He placed the magazine under his arm, shoving his hands in his pockets as he continued the rest of the way home. Pretty soon, even if Aomine was able to fit hanging out with Kise in his tight schedule, Kise probably wouldn't be able to see him anyway.

Well…fine. So be it then.


	4. It Should Be Easy

Aomine Daiki wasn't the breakfast type. Back home, Satsuki used to lecture him to eat properly so he could maintain proper weight and energy. The biggest incentive for this was that it directly influenced how well he played basketball, so it was often a success. Even so, breakfast just wasn't his thing normally, and he sometimes skipped it so he could sleep in just a little bit longer. When this happened, it resulted in him eating even bigger lunches.

He couldn't keep doing that. He knew this. Since he was back in New York now after traveling for some away games in the regular NBA season, and he had a day off, he figured he could actually get some breakfast for once in his life. These American cities, even though they could be diverse in their own ways, were all pretty much the same to him, but at least he was familiar with his neighborhood in Manhattan. There was a little diner down the street from his apartment complex and he decided to eat there.

The moment he walked in he got stares. The stares didn't stop as a host showed him to a seat. From the customers to the waitresses floating around the small restaurant, everyone was looking at him with wide, impressed eyes. People were whispering to each other. Unimpressed, Aomine glanced out of the window, as though he could ignore it.

He ordered a glass of orange juice (see Satsuki? He could be healthy) and a plate of eggs and sausage. The waitress didn't say anything out of the ordinary, but she looked especially nervous. Aomine took his glance back to the window, still trying to ignore all the people who kept looking at him. Each time he met someone's gaze they quickly looked away, but it was still pretty obvious. He was getting a lot of attention.

"[Excuse me]," said a tiny voice from the side of his table.

Aomine turned around to see a little girl, couldn't have been any older than 8 years old, and she was holding up a newspaper.

 _Slam Dunk! Knicks 3-0 as season begins with new Japanese player Daiki Aomine!_

"[Is this you?]," the little girl asked with a hopeful smile, pointing to a picture of him dunking from his last game attached to the article.

Aomine blinked. He'd been interviewed briefly, with the help of the translator he worked with on the team, but he didn't expect to get this kind of attention. He hadn't even thought about it, truthfully.

"[Yeah, that's me.]"

The girl's eyes lit up and she gave him a black marker. "[Can I have your autograph? Please pretty please? You're really good! Are you gonna win the NBA Finals?]"

Aomine took the pen, signing his name in romaji characters over his picture and handed the marker and newspaper back to her with a slight smirk. "[You never know.]"

"[I hope so! Thank you, thank you!]"

A voice called over from a few tables away, "[Jessica honey get back here please!]"

"[Have a good day Mr. Aomine!]"

Aomine waved lazily at the girl as she ran off back to her family again, resting his chin on his hand thoughtfully. Maybe this was the kind of thing he would need to start getting used to after all.

The rest of his meal was peaceful. Even though it was clear more people recognized him, no one else had come up to him except for that one little girl. He wasn't sure if that would change in the future and it was likely that it would depend on how well his team did throughout the season, but at the moment he was perfectly okay with minimal attention. He wouldn't know what to do with the level of attention Kise got on a regular basis. He didn't know enough English to talk to whole bunch of people, even if he pretty much understood the little girl anyway. Besides, he wanted to eat in peace.

After finishing his breakfast, he decided to get one of the newspapers for himself. Maybe he'd send it to Satsuki when he was done with it. With it tucked under his arm, he started down the street back to his apartment again.

The sidewalks were crowded, which wasn't abnormal in the middle of Manhattan, but they were _really_ crowded. And of course, it was right in his way to his apartment and there wasn't a way to avoid it without trying to go through it. It figured.

The crowd was a bunch of girls, likely teenagers, who were screaming and shouting over each other. Towering over them clear on the other side of the crowd, pushed back against a wall, was...

Kise.

It wasn't a strange sight to see Kise surrounded by fangirls, but this crowd was especially aggressive. Aomine wasn't sure if it was the difference between American and Japanese fangirls or something else, but Kise was clearly distressed, and he was alone with no way away from the crowd, backed against the wall and surrounded. He was saying something to the fangirls, but they were so loud that Aomine couldn't hear what he was saying. It was clear the fangirls weren't listening anyway.

"[Hey!]" Aomine shouted as he made his way straight for the crowd. They ignored him, of course, but he shoved his newspaper in a jacket pocket and pushed his way through the fangirls, heading straight for Kise. It entailed having to literally push some of them out of his way, but considering he was about a full foot taller than the majority of them, they didn't fight him back much. He honestly tried not to shove them too hard, but it turned out that teenage girls could pack quite a punch if they wanted to.

Nonetheless, he made his way to Kise, whose eyes were wide at the sight of him. His clothes were ruffled up a bit and even his hair looked like it had been messed with. Seeing him like that just pushed more buttons for Aomine, and he was glad he was here. He stood in front of him, opening his arms to defend him as he faced the crowd.

"[Back off!]"

"[Who are you?]", one voice in the crowd demanded.

Another voice answered, "[That's that Japanese guy playing for the Knicks!]"

"[What did he say? His accent is pretty thick…]"

"[Who cares who he is? He's in the way of Kise!]"

Aomine's eyes narrowed even further. If this wasn't a crowd of teenage girls, he might be a hell of a lot meaner, but they were pushing him.

"[I said, back off! See him another time. Go home!"] What he wanted to say was that Kise would give them other opportunities to see him, where they couldn't pull and tug on his clothes and hair, but he'd have to work with the English that he knew.

The crowd started to dissipate, the fangirls slowly starting to give up. As a few started to leave, more followed, muttering and mumbling about how what a jerk Kise's friend was. Soon the crowd was gone, and Aomine turned back to Kise, looking him up and down.

"You okay?," he asked him. His heart was racing, but it had little to do with the fangirls.

Kise gave him a half-hearted smile, straightening his clothes. "Yeah, I'm okay. You didn't have to do that."

"Well, you should be more careful. They looked like they were about to rip your damn clothes off."

"I guess I should take a cab to work, huh?"

"Wouldn't hurt."

Kise seemed to shake it off as he straightened himself, giving Aomine a big, bright smile. "Look at you! You're undefeated so far! You scored 43 points in your first season game alone! I'm so proud of you. I'm going to your home game in a couple of days! Look for me, okay?"

The way Kise could just easily switch gears like that threw him off sometimes, but the way he was gushing was...kind of cute….

He rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "Keeping up with me, huh?"

"Of course! I've been busy with photoshoots but I always read your articles. Everyone's eyes are on you, Aominecchi. Show them what you're made of!"

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm on my way to another photoshoot," Kise said as he started to walk towards a street, looking for a cab. "You should stop by afterwards! We'll have a late lunch and catch up. I'll tell them you're coming." He quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out a business card for the modeling agency he was working for. Aomine took the card, looking it over.

"Stop by at four, okay?," the blond said just as a cab pulled up.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there."

Kise beamed. "Great! Can't wait. See you later, Aominecchi! Oh, and thank you!" He climbed into the cab, waving him off as he drove away.

Aomine sighed, watching him go. One thing was for sure, Kise wasn't making any of this easy. Not in the slightest.

He needed to get over whatever it was he was feeling. He and Kise were friends. They were good friends, but they were friends. Aside from that, they had their separate, busy lives. Just because they were both living in the same city now didn't mean they could see each other often enough for that level of—

It just wouldn't work. Period.

All this was probably a result of his circumstances anyway. He'd come to New York alone, and aside from occasionally seeing Kise…he was still alone. He practiced and played with his team, made a couple of press appearance and did a few interviews, but he was still alone.

He wasn't lonely, okay? He wasn't lonely. Just alone. Seeing Kise almost made him feel like he was home again and….

Look, this NBA stuff was still new to him. He was still getting settled in both in his sports career and in America in general. It just took some time. He was a fish out of water but he was…waddling his way over to an ocean. Or something like that.

Point was, his mind being confused about Kise was a result of him missing Japan. Nothing more. He really needed to get over it though, that was for sure. Unfortunately, stupid clingy Kise didn't make it easy.

Nonetheless, later that afternoon at four, he still showed up to Kise's modeling agency just as the blond had requested. As soon as he walked in, the receptionist at the front desk greeted him with a smile.

"[Mr. Aomine? Ryouta told us you were coming. You can go on ahead down the hall, he's in the last door on the left.]"

Which door on the left? Instead of asking, he shoved his hands in his pockets and headed in that direction. "[Thanks.]"

Heading down the long hall, Aomine subtly peeked in all the open doors, looking for Kise, and listening for his voice in the closed ones. He went passed six doors before he finally heard Kise's voice from behind a closed door, speaking in Japanese with a woman. His manager maybe?

The first clear sentence he heard was from the woman, and it made him stop in his tracks outside the door: "You have a big crush on him, don't you?"

….What?

Kise whined loudly and Aomine could practically see the pouty face he was making. "Ohhh, I don't wanna talk about it."

"But you do. I can tell. Have you seen yourself when you talk about him?"

"Ahh, stop! It doesn't matter anyway, he's not into guys." The blond sighed loudly.

"Are you sure?"

"You haven't met him, all he cares about are girls with big chests."

Aomine's heart was pounding. No, maybe this wasn't about him. It didn't have to be. Lots of guys liked big boobs. It was just a weird coincidence. It didn't have to be about him. It didn't.

And yet, his palms were sweating.

"Well, I may not have met Aomine-san, but I don't know of a lot of guys who would go through a crowd of crazy fangirls to help their friend."

Oh…no.

No, no, no, no. Fuck.

Kise's voice came up again, whining again but Aomine could no longer make out the words from the heartbeat that pounded in his ears. For a moment, he stood there, dumbfounded. What should he do? There was no way he could face Kise after this.

Kise Ryouta had a crush on him. An actual, romantic crush on him.

No, just….no. Did he even know Aomine? Aomine was a mess of a person who barely knew himself outside of basketball. He slept way too late, ate way too much, he still had unpacked boxes in his apartment and it had been about two months by now, he was rude, he pushed people away, he…

…was completely terrified.

At first, he only slowly backed away from the door, but hearing Kise's voice from the other side again just made him turn and race out, running at full force down the hall and through the lobby as he made his way out. Upon reaching the street, he quickly signaled a cab and hopped in, giving the driver the location of his apartment complex.

The cab sped away from the building and Aomine still felt like he couldn't breathe. He'd never stood Kise up before, at least not that he could presently remember in his currently jumbled up excuse for a brain, but he needed to separate himself from Kise. He needed to put distance between them, for the benefit of both of them. Aomine needed to get over these weird feelings he'd been having about Kise lately, and Kise needed to get over his crush or whatever it was. They both needed to move on from this so they could preserve their friendship.

That's why Kise had been acting so strange lately. That's why Kise was so adamant about seeing him every single chance he got. He may not have been trying to flirt with Aomine, but his feelings were making him act like even more of an idiot than normal.

He sighed heavily in the back of the cab, running his hands through his hair. Actually, calling Kise an idiot was a mistake. Kise wasn't the idiot here.

He was.

By the time he got home, his phone had a few texts from Kise.

 _"Aominecchi, where are you? They said you showed up but ran out. Is everything okay?"_

 _"Aominecchi, I'm really worried about you. Call me please?"_

 _"The building is closing for the day so I'm going home. I hope you're okay, Aominecchi. Call me if you need anything."_

He wanted to text him back some excuse to get him to leave him alone, like something came up or he had practice he'd forgotten about or something else. But every time he pulled out his phone and stared at it, his hands froze. His fingers wouldn't move to even send the message he wanted to send. It should be easy, all he had to do was tell Kise he was busy. But he couldn't even do that.

Frustrated, he carelessly threw his phone as he entered his door, not caring where it landed or if it smashed. The phone landed on his red sofa right underneath his Mai-chan poster and he sat down at his desk. He was just going to check his email, throw some stupid TV dinner in the microwave to shut his stomach up, and sleep. Screw everything else. Just fuck everything.

He had an email from Tetsu, of all people. What did he want?

 _From: Kuroko Tetsuya_  
 _Subject: Skype_  
 _Message: Hello Aomine-kun. I have something I would like to speak with you about. Please come on Skype soon. I hope New York is treating you well._

Kise didn't tell Tetsu, did he? No, that couldn't be. For one thing, it was only 4:45 and he'd left Kise's modeling agency at 4. Another thing was that he'd received Tetsu's email this morning; way before he'd even had the invitation from Kise to visit him at his work. He couldn't help but breathe in a bit of relief at this realization. There was no way he could talk to Tetsu about this.

Truthfully, he wasn't really up for talking to anyone right now, nor did he think he would be for a while, but…it was Tetsu, and they hadn't talked since he left Japan so…he supposed it was okay.

But only after he ate and took a long, long shower. Tetsu wouldn't be awake for at least a few hours anyway, and Aomine had to get his shit together and calm down before he faced Tetsu over Skype. It would just be his luck that Tetsu took one look at him and figured out that something was wrong.

Something, of course, was very wrong, but no one could know that.

 _I'm sorry, Kise._


	5. Home

It was pretty late in the evening by the time Aomine signed into Skype. It was about 9AM in Japan, which he only knew after Googling it, so truthfully he'd be kind of surprised if Tetsu was awake this early. If he was, he may have had classes anyway. He had no idea what Tetsu's schedule was, but he knew that if Tetsu wanted to talk to him this badly, he might already be waiting for him.

And he was. Satsuki wasn't on though, for which Aomine was silently thankful. He was no mood to try to explain his way out of this kind of mood right now, and hopefully Tetsu would be so focused on whatever he wanted to talk about that he wouldn't see anything was wrong.

He was about to make the call when Tetsu made it first, so he accepted it. Tetsu came on the screen, dressed in pajamas, bed hair sticking out all over the place.

Aomine deadpanned. Some things don't change. "Your hair is ridiculous."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to you before you went to bed."

"Well, here I am then. What is it?"

Tetsu blinked at him, tilting his head slightly. "You seem upset."

Crap.

"Just forget it, Tetsu," he said, scratching the back of his head. He just wasn't in the mood to talk about it, okay? He'd figure it out on his own. Nevermind the fact that his phone, which was still sitting on the couch since he'd thrown it earlier, was vibrating constantly with what were probably messages from Kise.

Tetsu hesitated. Aomine was already wishing he hadn't taken his call.

"You don't have to tell me, but you shouldn't try to do things on your own. You still have friends, we're just a little farther away now."

Aomine put his head in his hands, threading his fingers through his hair in frustration. He'd already started to push Kise away, did he have to push Tetsu away too? Again? Well, that thought stung. Good job, Daiki.

"Well, what if some things have to be done on your own?"

"A little support from your friends can go a long way, Aomine-kun. You don't have to act like you don't know that."

He groaned loudly, not because Tetsu was wrong. Because he was right.

"You said you needed to talk to me."

"Yes, but if you need to talk, what I have to say can wait. I don't mind."

"…It's about Kise."

Well, just shoot him now. There was a reason he almost never opened up to anyone. Sure, Satsuki knew most things, but they had grown up together. She was there for most everything. What she wasn't there for, she found out or could tell by looking at him. Talking about his feelings never did anything, but right now he was stuck. Not talking wasn't getting him anywhere either this time. And he trusted Tetsu.

"Kise-kun? He's in New York, isn't he? Have you seen him?"

"Yeah…yeah, that's kind of the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Kise…he's…" This was stupid. Just bringing up his name, he felt like he could hardly breathe. He rested his chin on his palm, staring at the wall behind his computer, huffing. "Kise has a crush on me."

Tetsu blinked, his eyes a little wide. "I see. Is it a problem?"

Aomine scowled, looking back at his computer. "Well of course it's a problem!"

"How come?" Tetsu's gaze was steady, but almost challenging in a way.

Aomine froze, realizing how he sounded right now. "It's…it's not because he's a guy."

Despite the fact that talking to Aomine about this must have been like pulling teeth, Tetsu pressed on patiently. "Do you trust him?"

That wasn't a question he was expecting. He stared at Tetsu on his screen, trying to decide how to answer. Did he trust Kise? Kise hadn't given him any indication he couldn't be trusted. It wasn't like Kise planned to throw himself at his feet, begging for him to love him. Kise wasn't like that. Kise respected him, both as a person and as a friend.

"Yeah."

"Then Kise-kun isn't the problem, is he?" It wasn't a question Tetsu would be asking if he didn't know Aomine and his crazy, screwed up brain well. Tetsu knew his thought process just as well as he knew Tetsu's.

"….No. Kise's not the problem."

"Aomine-kun, can I ask you something?"

Aomine had a feeling he knew where this was going, and looked down at his keyboard, swallowing hard. "Yeah."

"Do you have feelings for Kise-kun?"

He looked back at his screen and opened his mouth to object, but nothing came out. Once again, he couldn't breathe. His mind flashed back to when he saw Kise in the store, the way Kise had hugged him on sight, so happy to see him. He remembered the way Kise was looking out of the window at the restaurant, when Aomine thought he was so happy to be in New York but the reality was that Kise was probably happy to be with Aominecchi. So very happy. The numerous one-on-ones they'd played together since meeting up again, where Kise gave the matches his all, even throwing Aomine off guard a few times. Kise liked it when he could challenge Aomine, because he knew that Aomine wanted to be challenged. Aomine spent his weeks looking forward to those games almost more than he looked forward to his activities with the team. Didn't that seem a little crazy?

"Aomine-kun?"

Or the way his heart had pounded when he saw Kise being trampled by fangirls that were pulling on his clothes and hair, how his protective instincts had instantly kicked in upon seeing it. He'd plowed his way through an aggressive crowd, fending them off so Kise could get into a cab safely.

"Aomine-kun, are you okay?"

Throughout the rest of the day, he'd been looking forward to seeing Kise, to seeing his smile and hearing his laugh despite the fact that he was kicking himself for having such thoughts. Fighting, fighting with himself, but in the end he'd taken the cab over to Kise's work anyway, hoping to see him, only to stand him up when he overheard him confessing his feelings to his manager. Because he was a coward. And now, he didn't know when he'd see him again, because he planned to put distance between them to save their friendship. Shit, that didn't make any fucking sense but what else was he supp—

"Aomine-kun."

He finally snapped out of his trance, but still felt like he could hardly breathe. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine. S-sorry."

Tetsu peered at him curiously through his computer's camera. "You don't need to tell me, but Aomine-kun, I think you know the answer."

"Yeah."

"You need to talk to him."

"What? Are you crazy? I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because I just…well you know how Kise is! He's dramatic and ridiculous. I tell that idiot anything, he'll probably yell at me and storm off. I just need to wait it out…until he gets over it or whatever…."

Tetsu was starting to look somewhat exasperated, but only subtly. Still, he remained patient and calm with Aomine. "You are not going to lose Kise-kun."

"What?"

"You won't lose Kise-kun."

Aomine wanted to object, again, but this time was too mentally exhausted to do so. However, he couldn't ignore the absolute sincerity in Tetsu's voice. He wouldn't lose Kise. There was no way for him, Tetsu, or anyone else to know how this was going to work out between the two of them, but…the fact that Tetsu sounded so sure that he wouldn't lose Kise….

"Don't ignore him. That will make this worse for both of you. Talk to him," Tetsu said.

"Yeah, okay..." He said with a heavy sigh. Easier said than done.

A familiar, powerful voice was heard off-camera on Tetsu's end. "Oi, Tetsuya. Ah, are you hungry?"

Tetsu looked off to his right with a faint smile. "Yes please."

"Breakfast'll be ready in ten minutes."

"Thank you."

Aomine gave Tetsu a puzzled looked. Was that who he thought it was? Taking a closer look at the room behind Tetsu, he realized suddenly where he was. Kagami's apartment. Wait, hold on a second, since when did Kagami start calling him _Tetsuya_?

Tetsu looked back at Aomine, wearing a small smile, a smile Aomine could read like a book.

"Are you and Kagami…?"

"Yes. That's why I wanted to talk to you today." Tetsu was downright glowing. Aomine couldn't remember the last time he'd seen him like this, if ever.

He couldn't help but laugh a bit. In a way, it wasn't surprising, but actually hearing it? How about that. "Well, I'll be damned. I'm happy for you, Tetsu. Don't catch too many of his idiot germs, okay?"

Tetsu grinned. "I'll do my best."

Aomine waved at him dismissively. "Go eat your breakfast."

"Yes, I should. Don't forget what I said, Aomine-kun. Let's talk soon."

"Yeah, we will. Later, Tetsu."

"Goodbye for now, Aomine-kun."

* * *

Calling Kise and seeing him wasn't as easy as Tetsu had made it sound. Over the next few days, Kise continued leaving him text after text, voicemail and voicemail all expressing worry for him. He didn't seem to have an indication about why Aomine had left the way he did, just a fear that something terrible had happened to his former teammate and his friend. Aomine knew it was awful of him to leave Kise with that fear, but the idea of talking to him made his brain freeze up, his heart threatening to leap out of his chest with the way it pounded so hard.

Kise wasn't letting him vanish so easily. He supposed he should be thankful for that, but this may lead to him actually losing Kise. No matter how he moved or which way he turned, it felt like losing Kise was inevitable, and it would be entirely his own fault.

Focusing on practice and games (he was very tempted to skip practice, but doing that in the NBA wasn't quite as easy as doing it in middle school and high school, which was probably for the best, he supposed), wasn't easy. His focus was way off and even though he was still performing well for an average player, he wasn't performing at his usual best, and it was obvious. They won the first home game, but the second one a few days later….

He lost. He fucking lost. His team had won all the away games so far, but could only win one of the home ones, and it was a direct result of his underperformance. Aomine himself barely scored 30 points that game, which was still a decent performance for a typical player but for him it was low. They'd only lost by six points, but that was pretty much the difference in Aomine's performance that could have earned them their victory. The rest of his team put up a fight but it wasn't enough. Well, he was in the NBA now. It wasn't exactly commonplace to go undefeated. 4-1 wasn't a terrible starting record. But he still hated losing.

Fucking Lakers. Just wait until the Knicks go to Los Angeles in a couple of months!

After talking with his coach and translator for a bit, it was time to head home. His coach expressed concern over his performance, and by "concern" it was "I know you can do better than that". It kind of pissed him off, but that could well have to do with the fact that it was true.

There were times when Aomine could play his very best despite being distracted, but this week was not one of those times, and it had just got worse as the week dragged on.

Despite having ignored his texts, not returning his calls, Kise was still at the first game. He had a pretty good seat, right near courtside, not that Aomine was surprised. Kise didn't try to get his attention, but he watched Aomine intently, with concern on his face throughout the game.

Aomine ignored him there, just as he had been.

Maybe that was the reason why Kise wasn't at the second game even though he'd previously said that he would be. Aomine shouldn't have even looked for him, but he did, and he was nowhere in sight. Oddly, the game that Kise chose not to show up for was the same one that he underperformed in, the same one his team lost.

Tomorrow morning Aomine was set to leave for Philadelphia for the Knicks' next game so if he didn't take care of this thing with Kise quickly, it could go downhill fast. He knew that. The logical part of his brain that actually worked (when it felt like working) told him that. But he was petrified by the idea of actually confronting Kise about this and trying to explain his confusing feelings that he didn't even understand himself.

Aomine Daiki wasn't afraid of a lot of things, but he was afraid of this.

He'd call him tomorrow morning. Fuck it. He was still in a bad mood tonight from the game anyway, so no sense in doing it now, and if he was of legal drinking age he'd pick up some alcohol on the way home, but instead he'd settle for looking through some of his old Mai-chan magazines until he passed out. He couldn't do this right now. He'd been putting it off all week, he knew that, but he just couldn't do this right now with the weight of losing against a strong team on his back.

He left from the team's back entrance of their home Madison Square Garden (which, by the way, was one of the most impressive places he'd ever played in, and it was his team's home? Awesome) and headed toward the street with his bag over his shoulder. A teammate actually offered him a ride, surprisingly enough, but he declined and decided he'd just get a cab instead. He needed a car. Could he even get a car here? He'd have to look into that.

A figure was sitting on the sidewalk, back against the tree, curled up into themselves. It was a pretty strange sight, especially in the middle of New York City this late at night, and most everyone had left the arena already.

But it wasn't his business. He stood on the sidewalk a bit of a distance away, looking for a cab to signal. As he stood there, the person's sobs grew louder, almost forcing him to look over, but before his eyes could confirm it he already knew.

He swallowed as Kise uselessly tried to rub his eyes, trying to pull himself together. The blond hadn't spotted him yet. He knew he should say something and he wanted to, but it took him several long, very painful moments of hearing Kise cry before he could form words. Maybe he should just walk away, but Kise crying was so painful, and it was because of him. It hurt.

Had Kise been out here this whole time? Had he tried to come to the game, but decided it hurt too much, and sat out here crying instead?

Shit, Kise….

"Are you okay?"

Kise shook with a soft gasp, looking up at him. His eyes were puffy, his face drenched with tears. Slowly, he made his way to his feet, and despite how utterly sad and broken he'd looked just moments ago, he gave Aomine one of the darkest looks he'd ever given him in all the years they'd known each other.

"I was worried about you! What the hell is wrong with you? We're friends, aren't we? I was scared to death that something had happened! Lisa said you rushed out and I…I was so worried! All you had to do was text me back and tell me you were okay, but you couldn't even do that. Four days, Aominecchi! Four days I've been worried about you and I haven't heard a thing."

Aomine swallowed again, feeling very much beside himself. This was like an out of body experience. Kise yelling at him? Had that ever even happened before? It wasn't a surprise that Kise was having an emotional response, but this? He didn't know how to respond to this. His hands shook slightly, so he shoved them in his pockets, feeling uneasy. And said nothing.

"So that's it?" Kise demanded. "You wanna know if I'm okay? I'm not. I thought that since both of us were here in New York by some miracle it might mean something but it's pretty clear that all you care about is basketball. Look at yourself, Aominecchi. I thought you were better than that."

No thank you, he didn't want to look at himself anymore. He'd done enough of that the past few weeks. Way more than enough. And Kise was starting to push a few too many buttons.

"Why are you avoiding me, Aominecchi?"

"I'm busy," he said quietly to the sidewalk.

"You're lying to me. Do you think I can't tell when you lie to me? I know you, Aominecchi. Did you forget? Why can't you tell me the truth? Why are you avoiding me?"

Aomine's voice slowly started to rise. "I'm busy. Okay? I'm fucking busy. I play multiple games a week, I go to practice even more than that. Half the time I'm out of the city. I'm fucking busy."

Kise looked like his head might explode to bits and pieces. "That doesn't explain why you ran out that day, and why since then you started ignoring every text and voicemail I've left you."

Something in him snapped. "Well maybe I don't wanna fucking talk about it!"

It was Kise's turn to be speechless.

"You've been shoving your face down my goddamn throat since you got here. Maybe you shouldn't have taken an international job if you couldn't handle being lonely all the time. Get yourself together and go home. You're a mess."

A cab came close by, but he didn't see it in time and it drove right past him. He cursed loudly. Fuck it, he'll walk then. Turning his back to Kise, he started heading down the sidewalk on what would be a long, tiring walk after a long, tiring basketball game. Just great.

"I really was worried about you…" Kise said, his voice quiet and defeated.

Aomine stopped walking, but didn't turn around. He heard Kise sniffle, and tried to will himself to keep walking, but he couldn't.

"You've never stood me up like that before. I thought something was wrong. I was scared. I still don't understand it. When I got the offer for this job, I thought it could be great, because it's a great opportunity, but also because I could see you. I just don't understand."

Kise sniffled some more, and this whole thing just made Aomine's chest hurt. It felt like a fist was clenched around his heart, just waiting for the right opportunity to break it. Kise's voice was cracking and breaking so much that it just might be enough to make that happen.

"I thought you wanted to see me too. But I guess you didn't see it the same way I did. I didn't want to bother you. I just thought you were my best friend, Aominecchi. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I won't bother you anymore."

Fuck.

"I-I'll go home. And I won't bother you anymore. Good luck with the NBA. The Knicks really need a player like you. Do your best."

He heard Kise's shoes shuffling on the sidewalk, and then his footsteps as he started walking. No. No, no wait. Wait. He…he didn't mean for it to end like this. He didn't want it to end like this! Why did he say such mean things? Why couldn't he tell Kise the truth? He didn't want to lose him, and Tetsu even said he wouldn't! But now Kise was walking away because Aomine told him to, and he wasn't going to call him anymore so they could hang out and play one-on-one and eat burgers together, where they could talk about their new lives in New York or reminisce about Japan. And he wouldn't see Kise smiling anymore or hear his laugh, and he'd only see him in magazines or maybe on TV and it would just be a reminder of what he'd lost and how he'd screwed up. This isn't how he wanted it to end, it was never how he wanted it to end.

Did it really have to end like this?

 _"Don't ignore him. That will make this worse for both of you. Talk to him."_

"Ryouta."

The use of his given name from that deep voice made Kise gasp softly and stop. Aomine turned around, half wishing he could just curl up within himself and take back every single stupid thing he'd said and done, but mostly wishing that making this right was a hell of a lot easier than it actually was.

"When I stopped by your work that day, the lady at the desk told me where you were, so I went down the hall. I was about to knock on the door when I heard you talking to a woman."

Kise's eyes widened. If Aomine had never seen Kise look terrified before, he was certainly seeing it now.

"I…heard everything…and I ran. I don't know why. No, wait. That's a lie, but you could already tell, huh? Yeah, I know why I ran."

Kise, looking like a kicked puppy, swallowed and then spoke. "Tell me why you ran away, Aominecchi."

Aomine bit his lip, looking at the sidewalk, and then back up at Kise. There was no going back from this. Once it was out, it was out forever and he could never walk back from it. It was no longer this living, breathing thing inside of him only reserved for himself. It was no longer a closely guarded secret with walls several meters thick all the way around it. He was no longer doing this alone and would be letting Kise inside of these walls, and Kise had the opportunity then to break his heart entirely at his will. He could leave Aomine in ruins.

But...maybe that was how Kise felt too.

"I don't want to tell you."

Kise's face fell completely.

"I want to show you."

Aomine took his bag off his shoulder, placing it down on the sidewalk and moved towards Kise, who stood stunned. In a swift but gentle movement, Aomine grabbed his wrist and pulled him close, pressing his lips against the blond's underneath the streetlight above them.

For a moment, Kise didn't move, probably because he was still stunned. Aomine didn't give up though, and Kise's lips were surprisingly soft, he couldn't bring himself to pull away just yet. He didn't care that he'd forgotten how to breathe, that his heart was pounding so loudly that Kise could probably hear it, that his hand that held Kise's wrist was sweaty and shaky. If he was gonna do this, he was going to give it everything he had.

It felt like a dream when Kise's slender arms wrapped around his neck. The blond mewled softly against his lips, beginning to kiss him back. The sound made Aomine's stomach knot up and he wrapped his arms around Kise's waist, pulling him closer. Kise opened his mouth and Aomine took the invitation without any hesitation, kissing him deeply and inviting Kise to do the same.

They kissed for several minutes, only stopping when they were finally out of breath. Both of them were panting softly, still holding each other close.

"I didn't mean what I said before," Aomine whispered softly.

Kise gazed at him with a soft, and very real, smile. "I know."

"Do…do you wanna do this? You and me? Well, I mean, we'll both be traveling a lot, and I know I just ignored you for four days straight, and I stood you up, but…"

Kise laughed softly. "You're such an idiot. Of course I do. Aominecchi…believe it or not, you're the only thing in this crazy city that makes any sense to me. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm home."

Aomine's heart fluttered. He closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against Kise's. All those times where he'd enjoyed his hangouts with Kise and had always looked forward to them made sense. In a big, strange, foreign city, Kise was just like home. He was familiar. He was someone Aomine didn't need to act a certain way around, or change for. With Kise, he didn't have to struggle with his English or his grasp of a new culture and environment. He could just be the person that he'd always been, and it was enough for Kise. Kise…felt the same way, and there was nothing wrong with feeling that way. He knew that now.

"Yeah. I know the feeling."

"Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Don't ever ignore me like that again. Please."

"Yeah, you got it…" He kissed him again, much more seamlessly and smoothly this time, and Kise gladly accepted. This was too good, a sweet, addicting sensation. He began kissing him a little harder, his hands traveling downward. The blond jumped a bit as he felt Aomine grab his ass, the shock causing him to break the kiss.

Aomine was smirking. "Feel like I've been waiting forever to do that."

Kise hit him lightly upside the head, but still continued to hold him. "You can't behave like that out in public, you moron."

"Then come back with me to my apartment."

The blond blinked at him for a moment, but then returned his smirk with one of his own. "Lead the way then."

Aomine let him go, but kept a hold of his hand as he retrieved his bag from the sidewalk.

"More than happy to."


End file.
